Lowell moves closer to renewable energy biodigester facility

LOWELL — A plan to use animal waste and food production byproducts to generate a portion of the city’s electricity and tap into federal funds for such a facility’s construction is plowing forward.

Planning Commissioners on Monday approved a site plan for a biodigester facility that could produce the 10 percent of renewable energy the state requires public utilities to generate on their own or buy from other sources.

The proposed site for the facility is on about 7 acres owned by the city on Chatham Street, east of the railroad tracks. It is in a largely industrial area and would include 10 structures, with the highest at 40 feet.

The approval was contingent on a list of conditions, including that the city determines roads in and out of the property can handle the estimated 20 trucks a week.
“We don’t want to encourage development that the city’s infrastructure can’t handle,” Planner Jay Kilpatrick said.

Hours of truck traffic also may be restricted for the facility, which is planned to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The utility is partnering with SPART Sustainable Partners LLC of Grand Rapids, which would front the estimated $2.5 million cost of the project. With a private partner, the project would be eligible for a 30 percent federal grant if 5 percent of the cost is spent or ground is broken by Dec. 31.

Sustainable Partners would own and operate the plant for five years before it is sold to the city, said Greg Pierce, Lowell Light & Power general manager.

LLP currently buys 10 percent of the energy it sells from gas produced by a Lansing landfill for $84 a megawatt. Pierce said initial studies indicate the city could generate its own energy for about $60 a megawatt, and that the project’s return on investment timeframe would be less than six years.

Another grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that would help pay for a feasibility study for the project could reduce the cost to about $1.25 million, Pierce said.